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Foyle Trust "twisting truth" on speech therapy

Thursday 25th November 2004

The Socialist Environmental Alliance has added its voice to calls for speech therapists in the Foyle H&SS Trust to be paid the same wages as their counterparts in the Belfast area.

SEA spokesperson Goretti Horgan said "For years, Foyle Trust have been telling the parents of children with disabilities that the shortage of speech therapy here was due to difficulties in recruitment, that speech therapists did not want to work in the North West.  The recent Amicus union report into the lower salaries being paid by Foyle Trust has revealed the real reason why it has been difficult to attract speech therapists to the area.

"The response of FHSST director, Elaine Way, to the trade union report is less than honest", claims the SEA spokesperson. "To suggest that speech therapists in Foyle should be paid less because they do very different work to that carried out elsewhere twists the truth. Speech therapists everywhere do essentially the same work.

"In so far as speech therapists in Foyle do do different work, it is harder, more stressful work ­ because there are so few of them trying to meet the needs of so many people, children and adults. In fact, if you follow Ms. Way's reasoning, speech therapists in Foyle should be paid far more than their colleagues in other areas because their work is so much more stressful", says Ms. Horgan

"The SEA urges everyone to get behind the Foyle Action Coalition's campaign to improve speech therapy provision for children with disabilities. Anyone who knows a child who struggles to develop speech and language will understand how important it is to help that child to communicate with people outside their immediate family. The stress faced by parents of children with disabilities is greatly increased by the fear that, if they die, no one else will understand what their child is trying to communicate.

"In discriminating against speech therapists working in FHSST, the Trust is also discriminating against children ­ and adults ­ in the Foyle area who have speech and language difficulties. Foyle Trust, and the Western H&SS Board, may well be leaving themselves open to be sued by someone whose ability to communicate is compromised by this discrimination."





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